In early August, the Poughkeepsie-Arlington Rotary cooked more than 100 hamburgers and hot dogs to serve a picnic lunch of baked beans, salads, drinks and desserts to the students and staff of Abilities First at the North Road facility in Poughkeepsie.

More than 40 members were involved, some arriving at 10:30 a.m. to get the grills started, others assisting in the setup and serving at 11:45 a.m. and others helping with the cleanup. Following the picnic, the club met in a classroom and Abilities First executive director, Dr. Jeffrey Fox, also a Rotarian, welcomed them and introduced Libby Faison, principal of the school.

Fox announced that the school will move to a new facility — a modern 20,000-square-foot building in LaGrange — hopefully by the end of this year or early in 2015.

The Poughkeepsie-Arlington Club meets at noon Thursdays at Christos Restaurant on Wilbur Boulevard in Poughkeepsie. For information, call 845-486-4605.

Students given Grange awards

The Rhinebeck Grange 896 presented three students with awards from the Rhinebeck Grange Patrons of Husbandry Fund. Each student received $100.

Rhinebeck Grange created the fund in 2000 that became part of the permanent endowment of the Community Foundation of Dutchess County. Since then, it has awarded funds to Rhinebeck High School students who have excelled in home economics, industrial arts and technology and chemistry. This year's recipients are ninth-grader Lillian Pavord for home economics, 11th-grader Sarah Moore for technology and 12th-grader Briana Santo for chemistry. Santo plans to major in biochemistry at Tulane University in New Orleans this fall.

The recipients were selected from among their peers for having demonstrated the most interest and involvement in each field.

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